A day off

Sunday November 7^th, 2010

The only real complaint that I have had of my trip so far is the lack of communication, today that was conquered. After three weeks of very brief e-mails and postings to my blog, I was able to Skype my parents. Oh… it was so good to see them and even better to tell them how great my trip has been and get an update on life back home.

After starting my day off perfect, it made it that much better to relax on my day off. I spent most of my day alone, which was quite nice and peaceful. The new volunteers were on excursions that I have already done and the three of us left, branched off to enjoy the day. Of coarse I wanted to enjoy the sunshine and the water. Only the water is getting harder and harder to enjoy. When walking along the ocean the waves truly feel like water splashing out of a hot tub and the pools are just as warm by the middle to the end of the day. It may sound nice to those who are preparing for winter in Colorado at the moment, but not when you’re looking forward to a refreshing cool down.

In the late afternoon my girlfriends joined me for drinks at Beach Lodge. We enjoyed our evening giggling like schoolgirls and socializing with the locals. Learning about the common challenges of life and politics here. It seems to be a common theme from those that are educated and work hard that they disapprove of the westerners turning Africa into a handout dependent continent. It’s hard to understand at first and accept when you are taking part in what they think is creating a problem. But we came to the understanding that we are doing our best to give the tools to those that want to help themselves.

The people here have lived a lifestyle for generation after generation not needing much and getting by with what they have. It is us that believe that they couldn’t possibly live the way they do. Most of the people here are very content with what they have. This is a mind battle that I have not yet resolved. When we think we are helping we are actually doing them an injustice. But how could we live such glamorous lives and not want to give them just a small piece of that, even if it is just knowledge and health care. Where does it stop though? We live in the world that nothing is ever enough.

The amount of money and time that is donated every year to help prevent HIV here is unfathomable. The educated locals know it is a problem but find us silly to think that we could even consider making a dent in the situation. To the majority of people here, it is no big deal. Many of the people they know have AIDs or are HIV positive and live a perfectly normal life. There is no chance in changing the outrageous promiscuity of the culture. Even if we educate them on the consequences of what is being spread sexually, until we are blue in the face, we could never provide enough protection to even touch the majority of the population and they would never consider spending the very little money they have on condoms instead essentials.

Nothing is a loss cause, but it is important that we remember we are in a whole different domain. Is it even our right to try to change it?